Field Reports 2765

[Jellico]

Creating this as a central thread to discuss the ongoing Field Reports 2765 as they come out, and the fleets and new WarShips listed within, and how they interact with each other.

Field Report 2765 CCAF is out http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,2209.msg805562.html#msg805562. The Cappies have a fleet (p5) and even new WarShips (p19). Buy and discuss

[Dragon Cat]

Capellans get their first shot at the party got to love being first in the alphabet.

5 Battleships
1 Vintage Battle-cruiser (new variant of class)
10 Heavy Cruisers (new Class) (SLS Surprise)  ;D
6 old Heavy Cruisers
3 Destroyers 1 class
2 Destroyers another class
2 Destroyers of another class
2 Destroyers of another class
and six Corvettes 3 of one class another three of another

[Jellico]

1 Vintage Battle-cruiser (new variant of class)

It is not a variant. McKenna's Black Lion featured in the SL Source Book and has very different intro dates to the TRO2750 Black Lion.

10 Heavy Cruisers (new Class) (SLS Surprise)  ;D

SLS Surprise was a modified Conqueror and nothing to do with the Soyal.

[Weirdo]

Well, it certainly looks like the Capellans posess what looks to be a decently balanced fleet. Rather top-heavy, but I guess that makes sense for a navy that expects to go up against the likes of the New Syrtis and Atreus classes, to say nothing of Terran battleships.

SLS Surprise was a modified Conqueror and nothing to do with the Soyal.

They took a ship from the future and slapped a Mass Driver onto it? I know naval tech didn't advance that much, but you'd still think they'd try to disassemble and reverse-engineer it... ;)

[Jellico]

They took a ship from the future and slapped a Mass Driver onto it? I know naval tech didn't advance that much, but you'd still think they'd try to disassemble and reverse-engineer it... ;)

Okay then. A Kirishima. Though I swear the idea came from that bow on Conq art.

[Weirdo]

*assumes you meant Kimagure instead of needling you with another joke about time-traveling WarShips*

From what I recall in discussions, I think the Surprise is actually mentioned somewhere, though I cannot remember where.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Well, it certainly looks like the Capellans posess what looks to be a decently balanced fleet. Rather top-heavy, but I guess that makes sense for a navy that expects to go up against the likes of the New Syrtis and Atreus classes, to say nothing of Terran battleships.

They took a ship from the future and slapped a Mass Driver onto it? I know naval tech didn't advance that much, but you'd still think they'd try to disassemble and reverse-engineer it... ;)

I have to say, I dig how the Soyal came out. She feels like a heavy cruiser despite her battleship-range mass, throw weight is about dead on for a heavy cruiser, and the idea of Capellan orbital bombardments with mass drivers in reprisal strikes during the First Succession War seems like both a painfully obvious idea, and a painfully obvious reason why the FWLN and AFFSN would target the Soyal with such extreme prejudice they'd be wiped out.  I'm sure the Copeland were hoping the mass driver would help even out the fleet disparities with their neighbors, too.

Of course, having the details on the Capellan Navy circa 2765 makes me wonder which ship I want to lead a rag tag fugitive fleet out to some hole in the wall Periphery colony.  The Typhon has a certain appeal.   :P

[Weirdo]

I have to say, I dig how the Soyal came out.

Thanks! Great lengths were taken to create a ship 'bad' enough that an admiralty that accepted(and kept!) the hideously flawed Cameron-class would reject it, but was still good enough that players would actually want to use it.

Don't forget that the FWL also bought some Soyals. I wonder if the early Succession Wars ever saw all-Soyal duels. I imagine such fights would either drag on for quite some time while captains tried to gain a superior position doghfight-style and peppered their opponents with the secondary weapons, and then would end quite suddenly when one ship finally lined up and connected with the spinal cannon.

[BrokenMnemonic]

*assumes you meant Kimagure instead of needling you with another joke about time-traveling WarShips*

From what I recall in discussions, I think the Surprise is actually mentioned somewhere, though I cannot remember where.

I've been thinking that I read that name somewhere before too, and I'm tearing my hair out trying to think where. ISP3:IE talks about testing of a mass driver mounted on a refit Kimagure, as mentioned below, but doesn't mention the name of the ship.

Historical: Liberation of Terra Vol 1 shows the CCAF WarShip fleet increasing from 30 hulls in 2750 to 37 by 2765. I wonder how many of those 7 hulls were new Soyals. It'll be interesting to see if we learn how far those plans to obtain additional hulls went by the beginning of the First Succession War.

[Weirdo]

I've been thinking that I read that name somewhere before too, and I'm tearing my hair out trying to think where. ISP3:IE talks about testing of a mass driver mounted on a refit Kimagure, as mentioned below, but doesn't mention the name of the ship.

Forgot about that bit. Okay, Surprise is almost certainly a Kimagure, then. Must be interesting putting a Mass Driver onto something that maneuverable. Too bad you can only fit a light one onto a hull that small.

(Yes, I did just refer to a 700+ kiloton WarShip as a small vessel that could only mount a light weapon. I find this hilarious. ;D)

[BrokenMnemonic]

Forgot about that bit. Okay, Surprise is almost certainly a Kimagure, then. Must be interesting putting a Mass Driver onto something that maneuverable. Too bad you can only fit a light one onto a hull that small.

(Yes, I did just refer to a 700+ kiloton WarShip as a small vessel that could only mount a light weapon. I find this hilarious. ;D)

I've been putting individual ship articles on Sarna for months now, and I'm enjoying FR:CCAF 2765 so much that it's actively bugging me I need to wait 3 months before I can add the SLS Surprise as a ship on Sarna based on the FR and this thread. It's going to sit in my bookmarks list haunting me until the day this comes out of moratorium...

[I am Belch II]

I don't get the million and a half ton heavy cruiser is a pretty big heavy cruiser.

[Liam's Ghost]

I don't get the million and a half ton heavy cruiser is a pretty big heavy cruiser.

You know, there was a single line throwaway reference in the battlespace sourcebook about how in the Star League era cruiser class ships could get as big as a million and a half tons. I wonder if the Soyal is a nod to that.

And if it is, such an attention to continuity makes me happy.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Considering the Black Lion I started life as a mention of McKenna's flag battle cruiser in the Star League sourcebook?

[Liam's Ghost]

Considering the Black Lion I started life as a mention of McKenna's flag battle cruiser in the Star League sourcebook?

And presumably a particularly famous goof in tro 3057?

[Weirdo]

I don't get the million and a half ton heavy cruiser is a pretty big heavy cruiser.

Had to be that big to fit the Mass Driver into it. Definitely a ship where capabilities determine the classification, not the mass.

One of the driving forces behind the Soyal's design was that the designers did not know what they were doing. They were good enough that the ship won't actually blow up when you use the elevator, but almost every detail that lies between a functioning WarShip and a good WarShip eluded them. The bloated mass was a kind of feature creep.

[I am Belch II]

Had to be that big to fit the Mass Driver into it. Definitely a ship where capabilities determine the classification, not the mass.

One of the driving forces behind the Soyal's design was that the designers did not know what they were doing. They were good enough that the ship won't actually blow up when you use the elevator, but almost every detail that lies between a functioning WarShip and a good WarShip eluded them. The bloated mass was a kind of feature creep.

Didn't even notice the mass driver. Thanks.

[Weirdo]

You...didn't notice the ship's centerpiece!? :o

Clearly, the Soyal should been Newgrange-sized and carried a Heavy driver, as the Medium one isn't big enough to draw attention...

[Weirdo]

And presumably a particularly famous goof in tro 3057?

Goof? ???

[Giovanni Blasini]

And presumably a particularly famous goof in tro 3057?

Cray frowns upon traveling back in time in the canon 'verse, ISP2 aside.

[Liam's Ghost]

The fluff for the Black Lion in TRO 3057 makes mention to its service in the Reunification War, despite, well... not existing yet, and prior fluff indicating that class was specifically constructed in the post-war era.

The Black Lion-I (and re-use of the art and the canon explanation for that re-use) makes that at the very least one of the more understandable goofs Comstar made.

Cray frowns upon traveling back in time in the canon 'verse, ISP2 aside.

Indeed.

[Redman]

I must say i am really excited about the Soyal-class. Giving it a mass driver is a fine touch and makes it stand out from all other published ship designs so far. The great artwork is also appreciated. I am a little surprised about the standard armour though. I would have thought a WarShip from the 28th century would do better and use at least improved ferro-aluminium. Also i missed some anti-ASF weaponry although looking at the Du Shi Wang this might be a typical cappelan trait. All-in-all a very exciting addition to the BTU.

The Black Lion I otoh is a little of a letdown. Stat-wise she seems ok (for a layman like me at least) and i like that she actually has some anti-ASF firepower. The concentration of firepower in the nose, aft and broadside firing arcs gives it some character and compared to other Warships of her time (early 24th century) she is also remarkably maneuverable. What i am rather disappointed about is that she is not a true cappelan design but yet another Terran Hegemony / Star League cast-off. As if we didn't have more than enough of those by now. Rehashing old artwork doesn't help either. Come on, even the Taurians got three domestic ships by now, so give us some genuine new House WarShips. I just hope that is not going to set a precedent for the next 2765 FMs.

But don't read too much into my little nitpicks. Overall FM 2765 CCAF is a splendid book.  O0

[Trace Coburn]

  Personally, I love that the Black Lion I gives more fodder to those who want to play (or even just visualise) late Terran Alliance/early Terran Hegemony naval squadrons.  We now have classes of battleship (first the Dreadnaught and later the Monsoon), battlecruiser (Black Lion I), ‘light’ cruiser (Dart — and note that it outmasses the BC!), missile-frigate (Quixote), destroyer (Lola-I), and two of corvette (Vigilant and Bonaventure).  That’s a complete fleet-mix, baby.  8)

  Would it be awesome if all the other nations had representation in all of the same classes?  Yes.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t love getting a better picture of WarShip ‘evolutionary trees’.  ;)

[Redman]

  Personally, I love that the Black Lion I gives more fodder to those who want to play (or even just visualise) late Terran Alliance/early Terran Hegemony naval squadrons.  We now have classes of battleship (first the Dreadnaught and later the Monsoon), battlecruiser (Black Lion I), ‘light’ cruiser (Dart — and note that it outmasses the BC!), missile-frigate (Quixote), destroyer (Lola-I), and two of corvette (Vigilant and Bonaventure).  That’s a complete fleet-mix, baby.  8)

  Would it be awesome if all the other nations had representation in all of the same classes?  Yes.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t love getting a better picture of WarShip ‘evolutionary trees’.  ;)

I agree that it's nice to have full evolutionary trees for different ship classes. I just think FM 2765 CCAF is not the best place to do that for the TA/TH. That would be something that a FM: The Age of War could do (*hint, hint*). As it stands now we have a rather large number of shiptypes for TA/TH/SL providing classes for nearly every occasion and in any desired flavour yet when it comes to the houses the list of known ship classes is depressingly short (at least IMO). I would like to see full-blown sets of domestic WarShips for all of the great houses because if they don't have them i start wonder why the TA/TH/SL kept on churning out new classes when there was basically no opponent to fight.

[Jellico]

I don't get the million and a half ton heavy cruiser is a pretty big heavy cruiser.

Historically plenty of cruisers have been bigger than battleships. When technology is reasonably static and you want to tweak for role something has to give on a fixed size.

  Would it be awesome if all the other nations had representation in all of the same classes?  Yes.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t love getting a better picture of WarShip ‘evolutionary trees’.  ;)

Major nations build major assets. Go have a look at any nation that is not the US or Russia and check out how much gear is foreign made.
The Houses are in the position of building a select few classes and purchasing the rest. And why not. The TH stuff is better.

*Opps. The Russians have just bought some Mistrals. Scratch them from the list.

[DarthRads]

And presumably a particularly famous goof in tro 3057?

Recently pointed that one out here: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,33878.0.html

[BrokenMnemonic]

I agree that it's nice to have full evolutionary trees for different ship classes. I just think FM 2765 CCAF is not the best place to do that for the TA/TH. That would be something that a FM: The Age of War could do (*hint, hint*). As it stands now we have a rather large number of shiptypes for TA/TH/SL providing classes for nearly every occasion and in any desired flavour yet when it comes to the houses the list of known ship classes is depressingly short (at least IMO). I would like to see full-blown sets of domestic WarShips for all of the great houses because if they don't have them i start wonder why the TA/TH/SL kept on churning out new classes when there was basically no opponent to fight.

It's not exactly unprecedented, though - Historical: Reunification War gives us a ship listing for the AFFS fleet destroyed during Case Amber, which represented "over half of House Davion's WarShip fleet"; that fleet breaks down to the following WarShips:

3 Aegis-class cruisers
3 Congress-class frigates
7 Robinson-class transports
5 New Syrtis-class carriers
5 Baron-class destroyers
9 Davion II-class destroyer
7 Davion I-class destroyer
10 Vigilant-class corvettes
10 Vincent Mk. 39-class corvettes

So, of the 59 WarShips present, 31 were domestically produced and 28 were former Hegemony vessels. It may well be that during the Age of War, none of the House economies and technology bases were capable of producing a full range of WarShips for themselves - the Hegemony had a head start after all, while the Houses were busy fighting various internal wars of formation and building their bases up before then attacking each other.

[Redman]

True, but you still might dream.  :(

[Wrangler]

I think AeroSpace/WarShip wise, were looking at is a old design and a new one per book.

There mentioned of the Essex I certainly suggest that pattern of new ships. Alot of the 2750 images became unused, so it would make sense to re-use them officially predecessor and aford mention ships from the past. It would save on money to pay for new ship images.

I think the first WarShips are going be the ones filling out the rest of the ranks of ships in 2765 series.  FedSuns has the Defender, while the Commonwealth is mentioned as Lyran's first ship. Other "first" ships included the Free World League has the League and the MoC's has the Athena which if it does show up will be in FR:Periphery.

I can't remember off the top of my head of other ships mentioned in the 2750/3057 and other house books aside from the Golden Lion.  I know the Draconis Combine had destroyers dating back to Age of War, but they were mentioned by name..so i doubt we'll see them unless the Narukami is the ship.  I  would find myself taken back if the Combine didn't get its own home-made Battleship for itself.

[Maelwys]

Anyone else think the standard AC batteries are kind of odd? I mean, I get not putting the AC2s with the AC5s, when firing at long and extreme range you'd just be wasting the AC5's ammo and heat, but it seems strange to me that you'd break up the AC2's into two banks of 4, instead of 1 of 8.

I mean, I get redundancy and multiple targets, it just seems like an odd design choice.